ETCETERA °1:11.SAI* NIGHTCAP Live By The Rules By Harry Kirsbaum s a part-time Uber driver, I never know who will ping me. Wheth- er it's a businesswoman on her way from her expensive West Bloom- field home to the airport, an African- American student at Oakland University on his way from his run-down house in Pontiac to his part-time job at Meijer or a drunk couple leaving their home in Rochester Hills for a staycation weekend at a nearby hotel with a quick stop at a liquor store in between, the conversa- tion is usually upbeat. It also keeps my interviewing skills sharp. With hardly any public transportation and even fewer cabs available, we Uber drivers in the Metro Detroit area are much more welcome than our coun- terparts in the bigger cities like Chicago and New York, where the drivers are considered rogue, and the city blames them for clogging up the roads. The way Uber works is simple. A reg- istered fare pings a driver from the Uber app, and the closest driver is pinged with a map to the fare's location. No money is exchanged. The fares are auto- matically taken from the fare's account and placed into the driver's, minus Uber's cut, and the driver's earnings are deposited into his or her account every Thursday. That's fine with me. And as soon as BP fixes that refinery problem in Indiana, the gas prices will drop, and I might even turn a profit. The thing is, I know the rules, and I know the requirements of the job. Keep the car clean and running well. Pick up the fare promptly and take them to their destination without breaking the speed limit. Be pleasant and helpful. Every job has its own set of rules, and if you're not willing to follow the rules, you shouldn't be working there. So I find it hard to understand why Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis thinks she can keep her job while refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. According to an ABC News report, "Davis said her beliefs on sin are shaped by'God's holy word' in the Bible, and that she attends church 'every time the 'STERLING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION doors are open:" I'm not question- ing her faith, but her faith has nothing to do with her job description. During the week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., she is a county clerk, working for the government and following the laws of that government. They're not just rules that a cor- poration has in its employee code of conduct. It's a law. And the law allows gay marriage. If she is unable or unwilling to follow the law in her position, let someone else have that $80,000 a year salary and all the benefits. She should resign. Period. Another person unclear on the complexities of the toughest job on the planet is Donald Trump. I wrote a col- umn about his run for the presidency last month, and obviously, the world is still off its axis. I wonder why this guy keeps gaining in the polls and when people will wise up. He offered his first position paper on immigration last week, and it fits right in with his simplistic worldview. He wants to build a wall on the Mexican border, abolish the concept of birthright citizenship, and deport the 18 million undocumented immigrants and their families. I know that he is funding his own run for the job in the Oval Office, but is he also willing to fund the deportation of all those illegal aliens? How easy does he think it will be to abolish the 14th Amendment or replace it with wording that he likes? And who's going to foot the bill to round up 18 million people and send them across the border? He's going to increase fees, but that's simplistic. I know he has 25 percent of the "vote" in the latest polls, but he's also up against 17 other candidates. As candidates like Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Rand Paul begin to fade, I just can't see those supporters throw- ing their votes to The Donald. I can't see Trump actually wining a primary. But even if he does, the first time he comes in second and calls the voters in that state a "bunch of losers," he's done. Someone on the Republican side has to get some traction, because I can't see Trump going up against Bernie Sanders in the general election. Too many documented Americans might be heading across the border. .r Vision I Expertise I Precision I Service Because of our commitment to innovation and excellence, Sterling Development has been awarded a winner in multiple categories of the Detroit Home Design Awards for three consecutive years. We have also received recognition in several local publications and one our homes in Birmingham was featured in the Temple Israel Home Tour in the spring of 2015 New Homes I Renovations I Kitchens I Baths I Basements I Custom Millwork P: 248.203.2036 I F: 248.203.2037 2382 FRANKLIN ROAD, BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI 48302 • WWW.SDC.BUILD 2025370 50 September 20151 itr,D THREAD